jemrtt

I just want it to be done prior to sail away.

well for all our last few NCL cruises, we did the muster drill and made back to our stateroom for sail-a-way.

not sure if it was this way for everyone

I just did a mock booking and counted the staterooms in each category. Someone from my the roll call mentioned that it is possible the ship could be at or close to capacity since many rooms will have 3rd and 4th pax. (kids sail free promo)

who knows?

Just let him know how much he deserves to take a rest...:D

There are over 40 cabins still available on the Nov 25th Gem sailing...I'm surprised!

Last year we booked the same 9-day sailing 3 days prior & we barely got on the ship. We got the last inside cabin on the ship. ($449)

To add to that the prices were high for the balcony ($1199) Last year, yet there were not many of those left.

Oh and btw...WE ARE DOING THE SINGLE DIGIT DANCE!!!! :D

You will be fine wearing what you have described. We usually dress this way. This time I think DH will be wearing his polo shirts and dress slacks.

You are correct according to the NCL deck plans. :)

I will second that.

One time we had to wait until we arrived to find out our cabin assignment. All the other times, we had it at least a week prior to sailing.

The city is extremely quiet on new years day. Open roads!

Yes you will get you own table. [esp if you specify that.]

In august, I was nervous about anytime dining on CCL. It worked out just fine. And a few nights we were able to enjoy the dancing waiters. :)

Have a great time.

Yes

DH did that when he surprised me for our 1st wedding anniversary cruise. He was already in the city and checked in before I got there so he could set up the cabin. In fact I had no idea I was even going on a cruise until the little clue game he invented gave me the code to open the lock on my suitcase!! I thought we were going to spend the weekend in manhattan. But low and behold...I was boarding the Victory on a 4 day cruise!!!

Good grief!! All that to say - yes you can. :o

There's no real need to let anyone know your plans. This past august, we grabbed a quick bite with our luggage in the stateroom, then went to get our luggage before the call. We took the stairs (one suitcase pp) and then got on line.

The wait can seem long while you are on the line. But in reality it often takes us 20 or less (CCL as well as NCL) to get onto the street!

For us, self assist works. But I notice it can seem cumbersome for those cruisers who pack heavy. Whatever you chose to do...have a great cruise!

Nice post!

funny thing is I went back to the reviews earlier today to see what I wrote about my 1st ncl sun cruise. I loved my review. It was reflective of my current attitude. Im a glass half full kinda girl.

I will, however, mention things that I find to be an unavoidable hassle. that way readers can be aware of it.

I do this to with product reviews on different websites.

lickin my lips!!! is the grilled cheese on the blue lagoon menu or MDR. I may have to try it.

Do you know if Tomato Bisque is still being served on the Gem?

DH and I had this soup for the 1st time in 2007 on the Sun and we fell in love! I coined it "Pizza Soup". Last time on the Gem we found it in Blue Lagoon, but it was not served in the MDR.

Three edible treats im looking forward to in 12 days

1. chocolate chip cookies (only 1 per day...cant gain back all 36 lbs lost):rolleyes:

2. pretzel rolls (rules above apply)

3. PIZZA SOUP!!!:D:D:D

it would cost us $280 to move from an inside on deck 4 to a gty balcony.

Who says I'm crazy for not doing it??? :p I would do it for $100-$150 more. But we'd be totally fine with an inside. We've done it once before.

its so funny to see that im not alone in my cookie madness.

DH is the cookie scout. But when he finally finds 'em...the chocolate chip is always gone!!!!

Just then, (it never fails) there is a family walking by with what looks like the ENTIRE platter of chocolate chip cookies saying..."Sure glad we found them now! Never know if we'll find 'em for the rest of the cruise...Honey? < cookie crumbs falling out the mouth > You have the ziplocks I packed???"

:eek::eek::eek:

We are booked on the breakaway for December 8...our prices dropped about 2 weeks ago. We were booked in an inside and upgraded to a family balcony for $100. It was after final payment.

 

sent from my Samsung galaxy s3

Nice!

So was this $100 per person or $100 total? Did you call them or did they call you? I'm curious because I'm thinking of upgrading to a balcony...plenty left on our sailing.

A waistcoat is what you call a vest and a vest is what we call a male or female torso covering undergarment. We also call pants trousers as pants are what you wear under your trousers.

 

So to clarify in the UK a vest and pants are a set of undergarments which one would wear trousers, shirt and waistcoat over.

Haha! I spent time with some friends from the UK. I just love the differences!!! "knickers" is my new favorite word! Lol

Also: biscuits / scones / cookies!!! What a hoot it was when my friend said "these are salty scones" but we called them biscuits! Lol

Got to love it!

same thought crossed my mind a few weeks ago when we were looking to book something.

New ships don't woo me...more days on another ship for the same price does! So its Gem all the way for us.

Pretzel rolls -- morning, noon and night! -- from the buffet!!!

Same here...I'm addicted to those things!

I also love the chocolate chip cookies!

But this time around I lost 35 lbs so I'm leaving the rolls and cookies for everyone else. ;)

I'm going to try to find some new favs.

Kcwingwalker, I'm really sorry to hear that. :( I hope you are coping well.

As for our story:

We were given (2) $100 OBCs via our TA. We did not know that a portion of it was non refundable and that it could not be used toward the gratuities. (Inexperienced)

The night before disembarkation (midnight), we talked it over with the reception agent and we learned that we owed $68 to settle account although the $100 OBC was still present. Long story short, we paid our balance and then two kind NCL workers helped us buy liquor from the (already closed) shop. The receipt had to be manually written and the amount had to come close to, but not over what we had remaining of the OBC. I think we lost out on $3.

They didn't have to do it. We could have just lost the entire OBC. But they cared and they helped.

Thank you NCL!!!

If we have flown to catch the ship, we eat in the buffet or MDR since we got there early.

But if we catch the ship in our home port, we get on board about 1hr prior to sailing so we don't have time to do much accept thank God we made it.

I must admit we do the Lysol and Clorox wipe thing too! Everything from sheets to whatever the hands can touch gets a through spray or wipe. It smells like vanilla in there when I done. (I bring the vanilla secented Lysol)

The other thing I do is request an iron so I can get the chore of ironing the wrinkly stuff out of the way. (Boo! Hiss!)

My first cruise was on CCL Fascination back in December of 1995. I had a wonderful time.

In fact you could say I was hooked on the concept of cruising ever since.

I have only tried 3 cruise lines and I hope to expand to some others in the future.

Yes, I was having trouble last night. I called & was told the system was going thru some maintenance. But then this afternoon I had some more trouble logging on. :eek: Finally, I saw that our reservation was on there. I was able to log on & complete the online check in. Now I can stop stressing out. Whew!:)